Fix rnw-dependencies.ps1 Node.js installation failures

change/react-native-windows-3211d67c-3146-40b2-8d6b-5c2ef4008bd7.json

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+  "type": "none",
+  "comment": "Fix rnw-dependencies.ps1 Node.js installation failures",
+  "packageName": "react-native-windows",
+  "email": "hmalothu@microsoft.com",
+  "dependentChangeType": "none"
+}

vnext/Scripts/rnw-dependencies.ps1

@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ $requirements = @(
         Name = 'Node.js (LTS, >= 22.0)';
         Tags = @('appDev');
         Valid = { CheckNode; }
-        Install = { WinGetInstall OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS "22.14.0" };
+        Install = { WinGetInstall OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS };
         HasVerboseOutput = $true;
     },
     @{
@@ -600,6 +600,9 @@ function WinGetInstall {
         Write-Verbose "Executing `winget install `"$wingetPackage`"";
         & winget install "$wingetPackage" --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements
     }
+
+    # Refresh PATH environment variable to pick up newly installed tools
+    $env:Path = [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path","Machine") + ";" + [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path","User")
  }
 
 function IsElevated {
@@ -685,6 +688,17 @@ foreach ($req in $filteredRequirements)
                     $LASTEXITCODE = 0;
                     $outputFromInstall = Invoke-Command $req.Install -ErrorAction Stop;
 
+                    # Re-validate after install attempt - winget may return non-zero for "already installed"
+                    $validAfterInstall = $false;
+                    try {
+                        $validAfterInstall = Invoke-Command $req.Valid;
+                    } catch { }
+
+                    if ($validAfterInstall) {
+                        $Installed++;
+                        continue; # go to the next item
+                    }
+
                     if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
                         throw "Last exit code was non-zero: $LASTEXITCODE - $outputFromInstall";
                     }